I sterilize the needle with isopropyl alcohol and an open flame and tape it to a pencil. The white string sits in the sewing kit on my desk. I search through all the colors to find it, to wrap the needle with it. The contraption is dipped into some black ink and I repeatedly stab small dots in the shape of a heart into my friend’s ankle. She whines and complains, but has a smile on her face, because it’s a symbol of friendship and will be a good memory later.
It’s a stick and poke tattoo, and it’s not as scary as it seems. However, I can’t condone this as it has potential risks, and it’s not as easy as it seems. Plus, we live in a society that seems to stigmatize any tattoos, so it is especially common to protest young kids stabbing each other with permanent ink. With good reason, I mean, there are many risks. These tattoos can lead to blood poisoning or infection, but that’s mostly if you aren’t taking the necessary precautions of sterilization and aftercare.
Tattoos are such a divisive topic. Some people view them as self-expression and art; others see it as unprofessional or self-abuse. I grew up in a house full of tattoo connoisseurs, and I gave myself my first tattoo when I was 16, hanging out in my room with my best friend and a homemade tattoo gun. I got a professional tattoo two years later, and it was a very different experience. It’s less painless and it came out a lot better than any of the ones I did myself. This is an obvious fact, that most would agree with. But, it’s a stranger who’s doing it in an unfamiliar little shop and it’s less personal than having your best friend tattoo something meaningful or severely stupid on your body.
Though professional tattoos are more mature and not quite as dangerous, what I like about stick and poke tattoos is how personal they are and how it can strengthen relationships. Nothing brings people together like poking them with ink until they cry. It’s actually not that bad an experience, to be frank -- it hurts, but it’s an ephemeral pain and it’s worth the result. People often ask if it was worth it and my answer is always yes. This is because I know I will probably regret having a tattoo of the Illuminati symbol behind my ear for the rest of my life, but I will always have the memory of how fun it was to be tattooing each other on a Tuesday night in my dorm room.
I think about these stupid little tattoos and each one tells a different story. Each one represents something that is important to me or was important to me at a specific time in my life, and I could never regret that. They never come out perfect and they always look a little dumb, but that’s what is so endearing about stick and pokes. They are cute, and flawed, and personal, and dangerous, and they are there forever.
